Official Review

Flaming Coffee is a Sansminds effect in which the performer patters about how hot his coffee is and then seemingly out of nowhere flames are emitted from the coffee. After a few seconds, the performer puts the cap on the paper coffee cup and the flames are gone and the coffee is allegedly ready to drink â€“ but as explained below, I wonâ€™t dare to drink it after performing the effect.

With Flaming Coffee you get a 20 minute DVD and some of the materials needed to build a gimmick. The gimmick requires one time arts and crafts work that will last about 20 minutes. You will need some additional supplies to complete the work. And, for each performance, you will need to reset the gimmick with additional arts and crafts work which will needed to be done in privacy. The gimmick will need to be remade after a number of performances as it will bet burned and warped.

So, you saw the low rating. But why? Is there anything good to say about this product? Sure there is! The production quality of the DVD is excellent, although it is mainly the step by step instructions on how to make the gimmick, which are clear and easy to follow. So, here is the scoop, there will likely be very little opportunity to use this trick in a real life situation.

First, the move you need to do to make the fire appear is hard to do smoothly â€“ at least it was for me. Since your spectators are looking directly at you and the coffee that you are talking about, that is a major drawback.

Second, there is no way I would drink the coffee after the fire is extinguished with the cap. It is not really giving anything away that you need lighter fluid to make the fire. I would be concerned about ingesting some of this substance. Maybe some people have a stronger digestive track than I do, but I donâ€™t want to test it out. Therefore, if you are prudent and donâ€™t want to drink the coffee, you are left holding a full coffee cup and a lid, which cannot be inspected. The coffee can be inspected, but if you smell it, there is an odor of the fire. The problem with this trick is that you are left holding the cap which cannot pass even a slight inspection so you will need to go into another trick immediately, but you are holding a full cup of coffee and again, the gimmicked lid that needs to quickly go out of sight.

Third, you cannot perform this in a dimly lit room because the spectators will see the ignition before they see the fire in the cup.

Fourth, before the trick, you cannot be standing too close to your spectators or they will notice something amiss about your coffee. Truthfully, I think this trick would be best for a controlled video shot and not any live performance. That may be why the DVD only has one very quick and tight studio performance and no live performances. Problem here is that SansMinds claims that no TV rights are included with the purchase.

The promotional video shows a demonstration of the effect that I believe to be misleading. It almost makes it look like the coffee lights on fire when the cap is taken off. That cannot really happen. In actuality you take the top off, handle it for a moment, and then put the top back on top of the cup and quickly remove it as fire emerges. Maybe the spectator imagines what is shown in the video, but that is not what you would see if you catch a demonstration on video. The ad copy is not fair because it suggests that this is the modern day fire wallet. Not really a good parallel. This is very hard to get ready and mush harder to transport and put away. The claimed reset time is 10 seconds, but that is not true. It will be several minutes and needs to be done in a separate room with certain supplies.

Since this is basically a DIY project, I think the almost $30 price point is way too high.

Super easy to do and extremely pocket friendly. You can carry it anywhere you go.Your morning conversation will never be about boring first world problems again.

Grab your Flaming Coffee now! The perfect opener to fire up your day.

Disclaimer: Flaming Coffee is intended for those 19 years of age or older. Use, operation, and performance of Flaming Coffee is understood to be at your own risk. By purchasing this product, you acknowledge consent and understanding of this message.

TV right not included with purchase. Please contact SansMinds for TV rights.